Quilled Butterfly Keepsake Box / Card / Gift Tag

 

Found this keepsake box at Daiso for $2. It's covered with a diamond patterned paper. 

The embossing is subtle enough to accept quilling pieces easily.

Strathmore blank cards are my favorite type to glue finished quilled pieces on because I like the contrast of having a textured paper as my background. The deckled edge also gives it a handmade quality versus having the typical straight cut.

 The free background on this gift tag came from Shabby Princess, Spring Breeze theme. The font is called Fling. After hole punching the tag, I threaded the two ends of a tied bow through, which allows the bow to sit front and center and the ends are free to be tied any which way behind.

A huge thank you to Nancy Babb for helping me edit my latest butterfly quilling tutorial PDF. Having her insight made the "how to" instructions easier to follow. 

I thank everyone for their input and helping me improve. Your comments on this blog encourage me to keep doing what I love.

Butterfly Quilling Pattern / Tutorial

During our moves (renting in between), I found it hard to focus on crafts. So I am impatient to finally launch this new quilling pattern for butterflies. Varying the colors, one can easily change the type of butterfly. The monarch is easily identifiable, but would you believe a teal and brown butterfly actually exists? I found the inspiration here.

This pattern first appeared in the book I contributed to, The New Encyclopedia of Techniques for Crafting with Paper. 

However since then I realized written instructions are slower to follow. Instead of writing out the measurements and instructions, I give diagrams - even where to glue and in what order. I hope this inspires you. I'd love to see what you make with my pattern, sold on Etsy for $5. 

Quilled Heart Full O Flowers

I made this quite a while ago and forgot to post it. The heart-shaped frame was made first - it helps to corral all the flowers in there. So girly!

Update: I have instructions now!
http://paperzen.blogspot.ca/2012/03/quilling-flower-pattern-update.html

Quilled Butterflies

I made these butterflies as a mock up for the book publisher’s presentation last year. Sadly, on its return to me, they did not use a very strong cardboard box and the push pins were squished into my lovingly crafted coils beyond recovery. They had asked me not to glue down to a surface, so they were obviously fragile. I had hoped to unveil photos of them in better shape, but c’est la vie.

They ranged from about an hour up to four hours to make. The monarch was the hardest to quill. I think it would have been easier if I could glue down the frame of the wings to prevent moving. Anyway, I hope they give you inspiration to make new designs – let me know how it goes!

Here’s a photo of the one I finally settled on showing how to make in the book (yes, a quilling tutorial pattern is coming soon).

Compact Craft Storage

We’ve finally moved and now I have my own craft room. This was my “before” storage for pencils, pens, felts, scissors, blades, erasers. I trimmed down a magazine file cardboard box from Ikea and cut salvaged foam core sheets (would have been trashed from a sign shop) for dividers. It all fit in the tall drawer of the Effectiv shelf from Ikea and I wish I had taken a photo of everything I managed to store in there before the move. Compact yet visible and quickly reachable.

For my various rolls of adhesive, I stacked the smaller rolls on a tiny tube and gave it a bottom – which all fit inside the large tube holding the larger rolls. Who doesn’t love a 2 for 1 deal?

Scored these 2 shelves off Craigslist (actual photo) for $50 each – can you imagine my drool over those drawers? When we got them home, I realized they belong in the Ikea Museum of Real Wood – what a find! During a recent garage sale hunt, I found a .25 cent miter box (helps you cut wood at true angles) which will help me make wooden dividers for each drawer so my pens and utensils can lie flat.
So although I enjoyed being creative in my small space, I am looking forward to having luxurious storage soon.

Blogged by Nancy of My Legacy

This is the heady stuff authors must feel when readers tell them the impact of their words. My recent Etsy sale to Nancy resulted in a flying ping pong email match of quilling discussion. I am humbled by Nancy's array of skills and her enthusiasm for learning reminds me of what it should always be like - itching to play.

Just look at what she's made in such a short time. I love her side view of a flower in the letter N and the way a flower is dangling downwards in the letter E.

 

To see her first flowers, click here. Then check the rest of her site for other handmade projects!